The BIG EAST has announced its preliminary roster
of men’s basketball standouts who will represent the United States in
the 2019 Pan American Games in Lima, Peru, on July 31-August 4. The
roster includes a pool of 15 players.
Prior to the competition, a final roster of 12 active players and three
alternates will be determined.
The BIG EAST is the first Division I conference to represent the U.S. in the sport of men’s basketball in Pan American Games competition. Ed Cooley, the head coach of Providence College, will be the head coach of the U.S. squad. He will be assisted by Kevin Willard of Seton Hall University and Mike Martin of Brown University.
“I
am looking forward to getting our squad together next month for the Pan
Am Games,” Cooley said. “I think our committee did a great job putting
together
a strong roster to represent our country and our league. As I look
through the roster, I think we will display the toughness and skill that
defines BIG EAST Basketball. This will be an exciting summer for our
entire team. When you have the opportunity to
represent your country, it is special honor.”
The
Pan American Games are a multi-sport event featuring teams from North,
South and Central American and the Caribbean, which are organized by the
Pan American Sports Organization
(PASO) and played every four years in the year preceding the Olympics
(2019, 2023, etc.).
The
team will play five games in five days in Lima. The U.S. squad will
open play in Pool A against Virgin Islands on July 31 followed by
contests against Venezuela on Aug. 1 and
Puerto Rico on Aug. 2 before medal round play on Aug. 3-4. The Pool B
Participants are: Argentina, Dominican Republic, Mexico and Uruguay.
Prior to the Games, the team will practice at the Ruane Development Center on the Providence College campus July 21-26.
The roster*:
Myles Powell, a rising senior from Seton
Hall, was one of the top players in the BIG EAST last season. He ranked
second in the league in scoring with a 22.6 average and second in
steals with a 2.0 mark. The 6-2 guard was a unanimous
All-BIG EAST First Team selection and was selected to the
All-Tournament Team at the BIG EAST Tournament. Teammate
Myles Cale joins Powell on the squad. Cale, who is also known
for his strong defensive prowess, was second to Powell in scoring with a
10.2 average. The 6-6 wing also averaged 4.1 rebounds.
Villanova, the BIG EAST regular-season and tournament champion last year, is represented by guard
Collin Gillespie and forward Jermaine Samuels. Gillespie,
a rising junior, was third on the Wildcats in scoring with a 10.9
average and first in 3-point shooting at 37.9 percent. Samuels emerged
as a regular contributor last season and finished
with a 6.4 scoring average and a 5.4 rebounding mark. He started the
last seven games in a row and averaged 13.6 points and 8.5 boards over
that span.
Ty-Shon Alexander of Creighton earned
All-BIG EAST Honorable Mention recognition after helping the Bluejays to
a 20-15 mark and an NIT appearance. The 6-4 rising junior led his team
with a 15.7 scoring average and 97 3-point baskets.
His scoring average ranked 10th in the league and he was fourth in
3-pointers. He also averaged 4.0 rebounds.
Providence’s contingent is led by rising senior guard Alpha Diallo,
who was an All-BIG EAST Second Team honoree last year after leading the
Friars with a 16.0 scoring average and an 8.2 rebounding mark. His
rebound average ranked
second in the BIG EAST. Center Nate Watson averaged 11.7 points
and 5.2 rebounds while shooting 59 percent from the field. The 6-10
rising junior shot a team-leading 59 percent from the field.
David Duke averaged 7.1 points while
starting all 34 games as a freshman. The 6-5 guard was the Preseason
BIG EAST Co-Freshman of the Year last season. Classmate
A.J. Reeves averaged 9.8 points as a freshman, though the 6-6 guard missed nine games with a foot injury.
Luwane Pipkins, a graduate transfer from Massachusetts, is
eligible to compete. The 5-11 guard averaged a team-leading 15.7
points, 3.7 assists and 3.5 rebounds over three seasons for the
Minutemen.
St. John’s is represented by rising senior guard Mustapha Heron.
In his first season at St. John’s, Heron was second on the team in
scoring with a 14.6 average and shot 40.3 percent from 3-point
territory. Heron also averaged
4.6 rebounds.
Butler’s Sean McDermott averaged 9.5
points and 3.9 rebounds while starting every game for the Bulldogs. A
strong shooter from the wing, the rising senior connected on 40.6
percent from 3-point range.
Three recent graduates of BIG EAST schools are also part of the squad. Butler forward
Tyler Wideman graduated in 2018, Creighton center Geoffrey Groselle picked up his diploma in 2016 and Georgetown guard
Greg Malinowski graduated this year.
Wideman, a 6-8 forward, is one of two Butler
players in school history to win at least one NCAA Tournament game in
each of his four seasons. He holds the Butler field goal percentage
records for a single season (.672) and career (.623).
Wideman won the 2018 BIG EAST Sportsmanship Award as voted by the
league’s head coaches. He played professionally in Croatia this past
season. Groselle, a 7-0 center, also owns his school record for field
goal shooting, making 68.4 percent. As a senior
at Creighton, he averaged 11.2 points and 6.1 rebounds. This past
year, Groselle professionally in Kazakhstan. Malinowski, a 6-6 guard,
averaged 5.7 points as graduate transfer for the Hoyas in 2018-19 while
coming off the bench in a 3-point shooting role.
2019 Pan American Games Roster*
No.
Name School Yr.
Pos. Ht. Wt. Hometown
Ty-Shon
Alexander Creighton Jr.
G 6-4 195 Charlotte, N.C.
Myles
Cale Seton Hall Jr.
G-F 6-6 210 Middletown, Del.
Alpha
Diallo Providence Sr.
G 6-7 213 New York, N.Y.
David
Duke Providence So.
G 6-5 198 Providence, R.I.
Collin
Gillespie Villanova Jr.
G 6-3 190 Huntingdon Valley, Pa.
Geoffrey Groselle Creighton —
C 7-0 246 Plano, Tex.
Mustapha Heron St. John’s Sr.
G 6-5 220 Waterbury, Conn.
Greg
Malinowski Georgetown —
G 6-6 200 Chantilly, Va.
Sean
McDermott Butler Sr.
F 6-6 195 Anderson, Ind.
Luwane
Pipkins Providence Gr.
G 5-11 180 Chicago, Ill.
Myles
Powell Seton Hall Sr.
G 6-2 195 Trenton, N.J.
A.J.
Reeves Providence So.
G 6-6 200 Roxbury, Mass.
Jermaine Samuels Villanova Jr.
F 6-5 225 Franklin, Mass.
Nate
Watson Providence Jr.
C 6-10 250 Portsmouth, Va.
Tyler
Wideman Butler —
F 6-8 240 Schererville, Ind.
Head Coach: Ed Cooley (Providence)
Assistant Coach: Kevin Willard (Seton Hall)
Assistant Coach: Mike Martin (Brown)
*All Pan American Games roster nominations are pending final approval of the U.S. Olympic Committee.
